Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings2.

0a
Readme File
September 2000
© Microsoft Corporation, 2000. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings!

Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 2.0a is an updated version of Age of Empires II: The Age of
Kings that includes several enhancements and bug fixes.

This file contains information to help you install version 2.0a of Age of Empires II. It also includes late-
breaking information not included in the manual or in-game Help.

CONTENTS
A. Installing Age of Empires II
B. Starting Age of Empires II
0 Getting Help
1 Changes to Formations and Manual Corrections
E. DirectX Troubleshooting
F. Gameplay Troubleshooting
G. Video Troubleshooting
H. Audio Troubleshooting
I. Performance Troubleshooting
J. Multiplayer Troubleshooting
K. Map Editor
L. Recorded Game Version Compatibility
M. Balance Changes in 2.0a Update
N. Enhancements and Bug Fixes in 2.0a Update
O. Age of Empires II Information

A. Installing Age of Empires II

To install Age of Empires II, you must be using Microsoft Windows® 95 or later or Microsoft Windows
NT® 4.0 with Service Pack 5 or later. (For information about how to get Service Pack 5, go to
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/).

To install Age of Empires II

1. Turn on your computer and start Microsoft Windows 95 or later or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with
Service Pack 5 or later.
2. Place the Age of Empires II CD in the disc holder (if required), and insert it into your CD-ROM drive.
3. If AutoPlay is enabled, click Install, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
-or-
If AutoPlay is disabled, double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, double-click the icon for
your CD-ROM drive, and then double-click the AOESetup.exe icon. When the Setup screen appears,
click Install, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

B. Starting Age of Empires II

You must have the Age of Empires II CD in your CD-ROM drive to play Age of Empires II.

Age of Empires II will not launch or join a multiplayer game from the MSN™ Gaming Zone lobby if the
player does not have the Age of Empires II CD in the CD-ROM drive. All players must have a CD inserted
at launch time.

You can connect only to multiplayer games created with the same Age of Empires version you are using.
For example, two players cannot play a multiplayer game if one is using Age of Kings 2.0 and one is using
Age of Kings 2.0a.

To start Age of Empires II

 Place the Age of Empires II CD in the disc holder (if required), insert it into your CD-ROM drive, click
the Start button, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Games, point to Age of Empires II, and then
click Age of Empires II.

You can skip the opening cinematics by clicking the mouse or pressing ENTER, SPACEBAR, or ESC.

C. Getting Help
Information about Age of Empires II is in the in-game Help, in the printed manual, and on the foldout
provided with the retail version of the game.

To display in-game Help

 Pause your pointer over any button or interface item in the game and Help text automatically appears
on the screen. (To turn off in-game Help, click the Help button near the mini-map in the lower-right corner
of the screen.)

The manual is also available on the CD in the Docs folder in .pdf format. You can view and print the file
using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

To install Adobe Acrobat Reader

 Double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, right-click the icon for your CD-ROM drive, and
then click Install Adobe Acrobat Reader.

D. Changes to Formations and Manual Corrections

The following changes were made to improve gameplay in Age of Empires II after the manual was
printed:

 Page 42: There is no longer a Select Formation button.

 Page 43: There is no longer a Horde formation. You cannot control or disband a custom
formation.

Manual corrections and clarifications are as follows:

 Page 107: Building Attributes table, Bombard Tower – 25W should be 100G.
 Page 108: Non-upgraded Pikemen receive 0/0 armor (not 1/0 armor); Berserks have 55 hit points
(not 48); Huskarls cost 68F, 34G (not 80F, 40G); Elite Huskarls cost 60F, 30G (not 80F, 40G) Elite
Berserks have 72 hit points (not 60); Janissaries have 53 hit points (not 35); Elite Janissaries have 60
hit points (not 40).
 Page 109: Non-upgraded Elite Mamelukes receive 10 attack (not 8 attack).
 Page 131 and on foldout: Saracen Transport Ships can carry 10, 15, and 20 units depending on
technologies researched (not double (2X) the number with each technology researched – for
example, the Dry Dock technology).
 Page 137 and on foldout: Viking Docks cost 25% less, not 33% less.
E. DirectX Troubleshooting
DirectX® 6.1 or later must be installed on your computer before you can play Age of Empires II. If you do
not have DirectX installed on your computer and you chose not to install DirectX when you installed Age
of Empires II, you will receive the message "A required .dll file, Dplayx.dll, was not found." To fix this
problem, reinstall Age of Empires II and install DirectX 6.1.

If Age of Empires II installed DirectX but could not update your video drivers to be compatible with DirectX
6.1, when you restart your computer you will receive the message "Age of Empires II could not initialize
DirectX. Make sure that DirectX 6.1 or higher is installed and contact your hardware manufacturer for a
video driver update." To fix this problem, either get updated video drivers from your video adapter
manufacturer or install DirectX in safe mode, which will replace the video drivers.

To install DirectX in safe mode

1. Copy the DirectX directory from the Age of Empires II CD to your desktop.
2. Click the Start button, and then click Shut Down.
3. Select Restart, and then click OK.
4. When your computer restarts, press and hold down the F8 key until you see a Windows Startup
Menu.
5. When you are prompted to enter a choice, select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER.
6. After Windows starts in Safe Mode, open the DirectX folder on your desktop, and then double-click
Dxsetup.exe to install DirectX.

If you experience sound or video problems using DirectX, go to

http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx/ to get the latest troubleshooting information.

You should also check with your video or sound card manufacturer for the latest DirectX-compatible
drivers.

F. Gameplay Troubleshooting
 Saving Games – You cannot name a saved game using certain operating system terms, such as
COM1, LPT1, etc.

 Uninstalling Age of Empires II – If you uninstall Age of Empires II (to save disk space, for
example), but you want to save your Age of Empires II campaigns and scenarios, you must click No when
the uninstall program asks "Do you want to delete all user-created files?”

 Moving Campaigns and Scenarios to a Different Computer – You can move the files for your
Age of Empires II games to another computer. Age II files have a .gam file extension – for example,
Age2.gam.

To transfer your campaigns, move the *.cpn files from the Campaign folder where Age of Empires II is
installed to the same location on another computer. Then transfer all of the scenarios in that
campaign and the Player.nfo file as explained below.

To transfer your scenarios, move the *.scn files from the Scenario folder where Age of Empires II is
installed to the same location on another computer.

To transfer your player name and progress through the campaigns, move Player.nfo from the folder
where Age of Empires II is installed to the same location on another computer. If you are moving the
Player.nfo file to a computer that already contains a Player.nfo file, you may want to rename the file
on the computer to which you are moving files so you do not overwrite the existing Player.nfo and
 lose the campaign information it contains.

G. Video Troubleshooting
 Intergraph Intense 3D 100 Video Adapters – Intergraph Intense 3D 100 video adapters cause the
game to crash during the opening cinematic. To resolve this problem, add the command line parameter
Nostartup in your Age of Empires II shortcut. For information about adding parameters to the command
line, see "Command Line Parameters," under "Performance Troubleshooting," later in this Readme file.

 Intergraph Intense 3D 100 Video Adapters – During gameplay, the bottom game screen border
may be corrupt and pink in color. Also, the in-game custom mouse pointer may not be visible. Upgrading
to the latest video driver (v. 4.3.0.3133 at the time of this writing) will fix these problems. You may not be
able to view the game in 1024 x 768 resolution. To fix this problem, contact your video card manufacturer
for the latest drivers.

 Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 – You may experience a black screen when starting the game (you may still
hear game sounds and be able to click buttons). If this occurs, contact the video card manufacturer for the
latest drivers, or download them at http://www.diamondmm.com/.

 Diamond Monster Fusion – You may encounter stability problems when starting a game using this
card. If this occurs, contact the video card manufacturer for the latest drivers, or download them at
http://www.diamondmm.com/. For the latest drivers to function properly, you may need to update your
video bios. You can find information about how to do this on the Diamond Web site.

 9FX Motion 531 – If you are running Windows 95, you may experience any or all of the following:
screen corruption of the main menu and New Player dialog box, screen corruption during gameplay when
scrolling from left to right and from right to left, and screen corruption as you select different objects on the
game screen. If this occurs, contact the video card manufacturer for the latest drivers
(http://www.nine.com/), or download the S3 Vision 868 reference drivers for the card at
http://www.s3.com/.

 Hercules Terminator Beast – You may not be able to view the opening video using the retail drivers for
this card (although you may be able to hear the sound). If this occurs, contact the video card
manufacturer for the latest drivers, or download them at http://www.hercules.com/.

 Hercules Stingray 128/3D – If your in-game screen resolution is set to 1024 x 768, you may
experience screen corruption and your computer may lock up if you restore a game using ALT+TAB. If
this occurs, contact your video card manufacturer for the latest drivers.

 Matrox Millennium II PowerDesk Video Adapters – Your computer may lock up when you change
the in-game screen resolution to 1024 x 768. To fix this problem, contact your video adapter manufacturer
for the latest drivers.

 Matrox MGA Millennium – You may experience screen corruption when playing with an in-game
resolution of 1024 x 768 or when using ALT+TAB in this resolution. To fix this problem, contact your
hardware manufacturer for updated drivers.

 Permedia 2 Chipset-based Video Card with Latest 3D Labs Reference Drivers – You may
experience screen corruption when playing Age of Empires II using this configuration. To fix this problem,
uninstall the reference drivers and contact your video card manufacturer for the latest driver written
specifically for your card. Many reference drivers are not supported, and may cause problems with certain
applications.

 Sierra Screaming 3D Video Cards – Your computer may lock up when you exit the game. To fix this
problem, contact your video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.
 Sierra Screaming 3D Video Cards (Rendition Verite 1000) – You may experience screen
corruption when your in-game screen resolution is set to 1280 x 1024. If this occurs, exit the game using
ALT+F4. Restart the game, and in the Options screen set your in-game resolution to a lower resolution.

 Rage Pro Turbo 2X Video Cards – Rage Pro Turbo 2X video cards may only allow you to use a 640 x
480 screen resolution. The minimum Age of Empires II in-game resolution is 800 x 600. Contact ATI for
the latest drivers for your video card.

 Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Exxtreme – Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Exxtreme video
adapters may cause screen corruption when you change the in-game screen resolution or press
ALT+TAB to enter or leave the game. To fix this problem, check with your video adapter manufacturer for
the latest drivers.

 Voodoo 3 Video Cards – If you are running Windows 2000, your mouse cursor may blink during
gameplay. If this occurs, try a lower screen resolution. If this doesn't work, contact your video card
manufacturer for the latest drivers.

 Screen Flickering – Certain second-party applications may cause a brief flickering of the Age II video
palette. Disabling all non-vital applications before running Age of Empires II will increase stability,
performance, and visual quality. This problem may occur on some systems with the Creative SBLive!
sound card with the Creative LiveWire 2.0 and 2.1 driver sets for this sound card.

 Black Screen after Video – A black screen may appear at the conclusion of the opening cinematic.
To resolve this problem, press ESC or click the mouse button. Another workaround is to add the
command line parameter Nostartup in your Age of Empires II shortcut. For information about adding
parameters to the command line, see "Command Line Parameters," under "Performance
Troubleshooting," later in this Readme file.

 Screen Corruption – If you experience problems such as a black screen after starting the game,
black areas on the game screen, screen corruption when you press ALT+TAB to enter/leave the game, or
other screen problems while playing the game, contact your video adapter manufacturer for the latest
drivers.

 Black Screen Areas – Some video adapters may cause black areas on the game screen. To fix this
problem, you can add the Mfill parameter to the command line in the Age of Empires II shortcut. For
information about adding parameters to the command line, see "Command Line Parameters," under
"Performance Troubleshooting," later in this Readme file.

 Mouse Pointer – Some video adapters may cause the mouse pointer to disappear if you change the
in-game screen resolution or reenter the game by pressing ALT+TAB. To fix this problem, contact your
video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.

 DirectX – If you experience video problems using DirectX, connect to the DirectX Web site for the
latest troubleshooting information, as explained in "DirectX Troubleshooting," earlier in this Readme file.

 Monitors and Lower-End Video Cards – You may see brief screen corruption or flashing when
switching screens in the game. This is a limitation of some older video cards and will not affect game
performance or stability.

If you notice screen corruption when switching to a high in-game resolution, this may be due to the
limitation of certain monitors or some older, lower-end video cards that do not support higher
resolutions. Use ALT+F4 to exit the game, restart Age of Empires II, and then use the Options screen
to switch to a lower in-game resolution.
H. Audio Troubleshooting
 Aztech Direct Sound Driver – You may experience choppy sound on this driver. If this occurs,
contact the manufacturer for an updated driver.

 DirectX – If you experience audio problems using DirectX, connect to the DirectX Web site for the
latest troubleshooting information, as explained in "DirectX Troubleshooting," earlier in this Readme file.

I. Performance Troubleshooting
CD-ROM Drive Issues

Age of Empires II uses Safedisc encryption technology. Some CD-ROM drives may not be compatible
with this technology.

 Acer 44X – You may experience problems with this drive during installation. There are no known
solutions.

 Acer CD-624a – If you experience problems with this drive when using read-mode drivers, install
protected-mode drivers.

 Memorex 2224 – You may experience problems with this drive. The drive may take up to 3 minutes
to load from the CD.

 Plextor – If you experience problems with these drives, contact Plextor for an upgraded version of
Plextor Manager 2000, which includes a "No Read Slowdown" option that may prevent the drive from
slowing to 2X speed.

 Sanyo CRD-256P – If you experience problems with this drive, do not load the game multiple times in
one session. Also, you may try ejecting the CD.

 Sony CDU77E 2X – If you experience problems with this drive, make sure it is configured as a
master, and then run the game again.

 Yamaha 2216E and CDR6416S – You may experience problems with these drives. There are no
known solutions.

 Yamaha 4416SX – If you experience problems with this drive, contact Yamaha for a firmware
upgrade.

 Error requesting CD insertion – When launching a multiplayer game from the Zone, you may
receive an error message asking you to insert the CD although the CD is already in the drive. If this
occurs, exit and relaunch from the Zone.

Command Line Parameters

You can add parameters to the Age of Empires II command line to customize startup or resolve problems
with certain hardware configurations.

To add parameters to the command line in the Age of Empires II shortcut

1. Right-click the Age of Empires II shortcut, click Properties, and then click Shortcut.
2. In the Target box, type the name of the parameter after the existing command line text. For example,
if you add the parameters NoStartup and NoTerrainSound, the command line will read "C:\Program
 Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires\Empires2.exe" Nostartup Noterrainsound. Parameters must
be separated by a space; capitalization is not important.

To add parameters to the Age of Empires II registry for multiplayer games using the MSN Gaming
Zone

1. Click the Start button, and then click Run.

2. Type Regedit, and then click OK.
3. Double-click Hkey_local_machine/Software/Microsoft/DirectPlay/Applications/Age of Empires
II/CommandLine.
4. In the Value data box, type the name of the parameter after the existing command line text. For
example, if you add the parameters NoStartup and NoTerrainSound, the command line will read
"Lobby NoStartup NoTerrainSound." Parameters must be separated by a space; capitalization is not
important. Do not remove the word "lobby" from the command line.

The command line parameters include:

 NoStartup – Skips all cinematic sequences before the game starts.

 800, 1024, 1280 – Sets the screen resolution to 800  600, 1024  768, or 1280 x 1024. For example,
800 sets the screen resolution to 800  600, 1024 sets the screen resolution to 1024  768, and 1280
sets the screen resolution to 1280 x 1024. You can also set the screen resolution by clicking the Menu
button during gameplay and then clicking Options. If you use a command line parameter to set the
screen resolution, the game always starts at that resolution, even if you use Options to choose another
resolution. Note that the interface screens before the game will always be displayed in 800 x 600 mode.

 Mfill – Fixes horizontal line problems and black screen areas that may occur with some video adapter
configurations.

 NormalMouse – Replaces the custom mouse pointer with a standard mouse pointer.

 NoSound – Turns off all sounds, except those played in cinematics.

 NoTerrainSound – Turns off all terrain sounds.

 NoMusic – Turns off all music.

 Msync – Fixes lock-up problem that may occur with some SoundBlaster AWE configurations.

Poor Frame Rate

 Voodoo 3 Video Cards – If you are running Windows 2000, you may experience poor frame rate. If
this occurs, contact your video card manufacturer for the latest drivers.

J. Multiplayer Troubleshooting
 Best performance – For best performance, connect to the Internet before starting an Internet
multiplayer game.

 Age of Empires Versions – In a multiplayer game, all players must be using the same version of
Age of Empires. For example, if you are using Age of Empires II version 2.0a, only Age of Empires II
version 2.0a games appear in the multiplayer list, not Age of Kings 2.0, Age of Empires, or Age of
Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion games.
 Serial or Modem Connections – You may have difficulty joining a multiplayer game or you may be
dropped from a game before it starts when playing over a serial connection or a modem connection. To fix
this problem, all players should install DirectPlay® 6.1A.

To install DirectPlay 6.1A

1. Open My Computer, and then right-click the Age of Empires II CD.

2. Click Install DirectPlay 6.1A.
3. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

 Multiple IP Addresses – If other players are not able to connect to a game you have created by
typing the IP address that appears when you click the IP button on the Multiplayer Game screen, you
may have multiple IP addresses. You can display all of your IP addresses by running Winipcfg.

To run Winipcfg

1. Click the Start button, and then click Run.

2. Type Winipcfg, and then click OK.
3. Select PPP Adapter. The correct IP address is displayed in the IP Address box.

 Multiplayer Performance – If you experience performance problems during a multiplayer game, try
playing at a lower screen resolution or have the host set the game speed to Slow in the Multiplayer
Game screen.

 Computer Players in Multiplayer Games – It is not recommended that computer players play in a
multiplayer game over the Internet as it may slow the game. If you would like to add computer players to a
multiplayer game, make sure the player with the fastest computer and fastest connection hosts the game.

 Connection Type – Always select Internet TCP/IP Connection for DirectPlay when starting a
multiplayer game over the Internet. (Select the Local (LAN) TCP/IP Connection if you are playing on a
private or home network.) If you choose LAN and you are playing on the Internet, the game may
hang. If this occurs, restart Age of Empires II and select Internet TCP/IP Connection for DirectPlay.

 Joining a restored game – If you attempt to join a restored game via direct IP and the game was
launched from the Zone, you will not be able to join the game. If a Zone restored game fails, all
players should exit the game and rejoin through the Zone.

 Different modem speeds – If two players have different modem speeds, they will be unable to play
with each other. To fix this problem, use the same modem speed as your opponent.

 Home networks and dial-up connections – If you have a network card and you dial in to the
Internet via modem, you may have trouble launching multiplayer games. To fix this problem, unplug
the network cable from your network card before connecting to the Internet.

K. Map Editor
You may experience problems when creating your own background art for campaigns in the Map Editor. If
this occurs, do not use the first or last 10 colors in the color palette.

L. Recorded Game Version Compatibility

Recorded games can only be played using the same version of Age of Kings that was used to record the
game. For example, you cannot play an Age of Kings 2.0 recorded game using Age of Kings 2.0a.
M. Balance Changes in 2.0a Update
Town Center – The following changes have been made since version 2.0:

 The resource cost to build a Town Center has been increased by 100 stone.
 The time to build a Town Center has been increased.
 Missile technologies available at the Blacksmith (Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer) no longer
increase the range of the Town Center.
 Teutons: The Town Center no longer has increased range.
 Britons: The 50% decrease in the cost to build a Town Center now applies only to wood, and this
reduction in wood cost is not available until the Castle Age.

N. Enhancements and Bug Fixes in 2.0a Update

The following improvements have been made since version 2.0:

 Single Player Performance – The performance of single player campaign games has been
improved, especially on lower-end computers.

 Limited Pauses – The total number of pauses available to each player in a multiplayer game is now
limited. The total number of pauses remaining is displayed each time the game is paused.

 Display Name of Out of Sync Player – In a multiplayer game with three or more players, if a player
goes out of sync, that player's name is displayed in the out of sync message on all computers.

 Stability – A number of crashes and multiplayer out of sync bugs have been fixed, resulting in
improved game stability.

 Computer Player Resigning Bug – The computer player will no longer resign after a few minutes of
play. (This fix was previously available in the AI Update.)

 Fish Trap Bug – You can no longer build a Fish Trap on top of an existing fish resource.

 Fishing Ship Bug – You can no longer use a Fishing Ship to construct buildings other than a Fish
Trap.

 Flare and Waypoint Bug – The game no longer crashes when you set a flare or waypoint location at
the Southern-most point on the map.

 Cooperative Farming Bug – When you take over a Farm foundation built by an ally, you can no
longer extract more than the standard amount of food from that Farm.

 Farm on Forest Bug – You can no longer build a Farm or wall on top of a partially cut section of
forest.

 Units Ignoring Orders Bug – Units no longer ignore orders under some circumstances.

 Multiplayer Restore from Zone Bug – The ability to save and restore a disconnected or out of sync
multiplayer game on the Zone has been improved.

 Foundation Outline Bug – Building foundations now have outlines, so you can now click them when
they are behind trees or other objects.

 Trebuchet Firing Bug – Trebuchets no longer miss targets that are on a different elevation.
 Single Player Campaign after Regicide Bug – A single player game will no longer automatically
end immediately after a multiplayer Regicide game is played.

 Computer Player Bugs – The behavior of the computer player in multiplayer games has been
improved.

 Scenario Editor Bugs – A number of Scenario Editor bugs have been fixed.

O. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings Information

 For more information about Age of Empires II, visit our Web site at
http://www.microsoft.com/games/age2/.
 If you'd like to play against opponents over the Internet, check out the MSN Gaming Zone at
http://www.zone.com/.